Drainage, Sanitation & Other Issues Related to Shipping Container Housing

You've got your indoor plumbing, and your outdoor plumbing.

A five gallon plastic sheet rock bucket with a toilet seat, or a couple of boards on it can be used as either indoor or outdoor facilities.

One big shared waste dump hole in the ground for the buckets and you've got a gas generating lagoon.

You can dig drainage ditches around shipping containers or tents with shovels to direct water to other holes or vessels or down the hill.

You can vent indoor buckets with pvc out walls in the crapper room if you want to get fancy.

I'll admit that when digging I use a cheap ass plastic level to make sure I have fall, though I have discovered I got a bit carried away a few times and dug right deeper than really necessary and there were rocks in the way and damn it is not a precision fall tool.

When digging it is best to have more than a shovel, and a mattock and shovel and garden trowel, and digging bar, and an axe and a hatchet where typically what I threw all around me when ever digging ditches or holes.

I mean good God almighty, what did they do before modern plumbing but dig holes in the ground, put an out house over it, use it till it was full or unbearable and then move the outhouse to over another hole?

Hell I remember camping and digging a real little trench on the upside of my tent incase it rained.

Another ditch trick is simply after you dig a ditch deep enough to do what you want, stick your foot in it and compact the soil instead of leaving a bunch of loose dirt there in.

If you don't want to dig forever, well just dig your ditch to a certain down hill point, then dig a big hole and throw a bunch of rocks in it, and cover it up.

I know that ditch digging and latrine digging is a very very complicated subject. I studied on it for many many years and have still not perfected it. In fact such perfection will never be possible.

We will move on to how to dig a well now, though I'm interested in not going underground to do it and like the alternative techniques developed 1000s of years ago by the Chinese of ramming pointed things into the ground.

Trans,

go back to the contianer posting by Chrissg288 and his idea for a container composting toilet set up...using two stacked containers....then draw of the gases and use to generate electricity, like they do at garbage dumps ....maybe even have a large container for waste as well, then two sources of methane (up end several containers and paint interiors with truck bed liner for corrosion etc protection.....let it decompose and use as compost (need to cut access hole in side near base and palce a screw feed take out for get compost out).

The self composting toilets have to be careful as Haitian have the highest HIV/AIDS in the world....so lots of possible drugs in left over and could find way back into food system if not treated for pathogeons and drugs...chlorine does not always work ...need a peroxide of sorts.

Look also at Dean Kamens site www.dekaresearch.com for his "slingshot" and www.zanaqua.com for these water treatment systems...drilling wells will not work due to the salinity now occuring in many wells in Haiti...look at Florida (also go and look on GOOGLE EARTH around the end of the airport for the big sink holes there....Haiti is limestoen like Florida.

So need to catch rain water and Filter and also catch run off and use as grey water for agriculture...use "concrete canvas" to build retention ponds aligned with the communities needs. Use same to make surrounding drainage shoots between shelters all aimed towards the rentention ponds.....and use crushed building material for paths etc between.....has worked well for the Military site bases.

Geoff Daly NH

I looked at Chrisgs designs, and understand them.

Turning and burying etc. represent some significant labor and machinery.

To tell the truth at this point I really won't have much to say until something along the lines of what we know is made and available, is bought and put in place.

I am down to one recommendation now. That recommendation is that as far as Haiti and now, and coming up fairly quickly, it is the Community Center, Food Distro, School Clinic, and Tool Room designs that need to be our focus.

Issues of water and all are influenced by factors I myself at this point can't say much about since I'm not there in Haiti, and consider that nothing much I might have to say now really worth much since in my experience theories may well be good, but not quite work out on the day.

Potable water access was an issue in Haiti before the recent earthquake, now even more so.

Transcendian alluded to the process of establishing a well by driving pointy things in the ground. There are methods to do this that do not necessitate the use of power tools and/or sophisticated machinery, both of which will be in short supply in Haiti .

Here's one link

Yeah, I've seen those used, good ideer, probably could be cobbled together on-site from scrap pipe and re-bar.

I built mine out of a pipe cap and heavy wall 2" pipe. haven't needed to add the handles. Works well.

Pipe cap needed really good welding because the impact tended to crack the welds and the cap. Finally welded a bit of flat on top of the cap to reinforce it.

Since then have done a lot of work with no problem.

If I was doing it again, I'd simply weld a bit of 3/8 or 1/2" flat over the end of the pipe and forget about using the pipe cap.

Sceptic,

Good point for post pounding.

for yours or anyone else, take a lump of round bar stock (so it fits inside tubing/pipe section) and cut to about 6 inches in length. Slide in and weld around...recess slightly, then drill four 3/8" to 1/2" holes in about 1" into the solid and tape for suitable coarse threaded hi-tensile bolt and screw in.....will never come loose or break again ever.

Have built post tubes for 2" 4" and 8" diameter posts, all 42" tubes (8" needed three handles on, to get good pounding by three people- used 11/4" diameter bent pipe...did use saw to shape ends to a slight point)

Haitians could easily make these form scrap piping, bent rebar and plate...have welders there anyway.

Geoff Daly NH

I'm posting the links below for all the various threads from

CR4 a International engineering forum sponsored by

Global Spec http://www.globalspec.com/

Be aware that CR4 is an open forum where even guests can post.

The conversation can & does go off topic from time to time, which is all part of the open design process...

Please feel free to join in any & all of the discussions

The original thread Shipping Container Housing is over 900 posts long

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/49244#newcomments

We started four threads for more detailed discussions after it became clear the original thread was getting too long

How to Install & Anchor Shipping Container Housing:

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/50522#newcomments

Methods For Installing Doors & Windows In Shipping Container Housing:

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/50523#newcomments

Drainage, Sanitation & Other Issues Related To Shipping Container Housing:

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/50525#newcomments

Potable Water In Conjunction W/ Shipping Container as Housing:

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/50537#newcomments

The new Blog started by Clemson University:

http://www.seed-haiti.net/?page_id=2

Please feel free to contact me should you need any help with any of CR4's features

mark

A refresher of the links to all the related discussions

The original thread Shipping Container Housing is over 1500 posts long

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/49244#newcomments

New Thread as a Compilation:

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/52324/Alternate-Methods-of-Emergency-Housing-as-it-Relates-to-the-Crisis-in-Haiti

How to Install & Anchor Shipping Container Housing:

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/50522#newcomments

Methods For Installing Doors & Windows In Shipping Container Housing:

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/50523#newcomments

Drainage, Sanitation & Other Issues Related To Shipping Container Housing:

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/50525#newcomments

Potable Water In Conjunction W/ Shipping Container as Housing:

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/50537#newcomments

What Shelter Designs Work Using Corrugated Iron

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/50850/What-Shelter-Designs-Work-Using-Corrugated-Iron

Scrap ships as housing

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/51898/Ship-Breaking

The new Blog started by Clemson University:

http://www.seed-haiti.net/?page_id=2

Bioneers Forum

http://connect.bioneers.org/forum/topics/alternate-methods-of-emergency

Please feel free to contact me should you need any help with any of CR4's features

Here is some of the contact information for the various political entities:

The Whitehouse:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

The US Senate:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

The US Congress:

http://www.congress.org/

or

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

The holder of the purse strings:

http://www.usaid.gov/contact.html

Here are some numbers Transcendian came up with to call with polite communications as people die. See if you can get something good to happen.

Try Beau Mills at 919-859-5999

Try Merorores at 212-370-4840 Haiti Mission to the UN.

Try Unicef at 1-800-486-4233

Try Countryman & McDaniel at 310-342-6500

Try Christian Lopez of Latino Housing Development at 716-881-7051

Try 212-963-1234 and see who you get and what they want you to do. It's the number for the UN.

Try 509-229-800 and ask for Kenneth H/Merten. He's one I aint got to bothering yet. See if he knows Raymond Joseph at 202-332-4070. (check number.) For USAID try 202-712-4007, ask for Mike.

Try 202-271-4416. Bette Cook.

The list is not in order. Mr. Lopez is attempting to get shipping container housing to Haiti, and deserves support. Countryman and McDaniels have information and contacts we need. We do need the UN to act right, but making that happen will be tough. USAID has already told us to go to hell, and all US Government agencys seem to defer to them